Louisiana's shrimping season officially begins on Monday but the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has killed any sense of optimism, reports the BBC's Robyn Bresnahan.
George Barisich's fishing boat has survived three major hurricanes โ Gustav, Ike and Katrina.
"My house was underwater, but she survived," he says, giving the boat a loving pat.
But Mr Barisich fears what will sink his commercial fishing business once and for all is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.
"People laugh at us when we say this oil spill could be worse than Katrina, but we ain't joking," he says.